“The size is based on the pocket watch movements originally used, and has carried through as part of the style.” “It’s the perfect example of the classic WWII look,” says Amsdon. Speaking of large, the next decade saw the release of IWC’s Big Pilot’s, perhaps the platonic ideal of the ‘B-Uhr’ (from the German Beobachtungsuhr, or ‘observation watch’). IWC’s Mark XI was therefore protected Tony Stark-style by an inner case of soft iron, which was highly conductive (and made the overall watch larger). The International Watch Company was among the first luxury watchmakers to realize, in the 1930s, that magnetic fields in the cockpit could render flight crew’s wristwear less reliable than Heathrow departure times. In fact, so synonymous is Zenith with this early aviation aesthetic that Patek copped a lot of flak when its 2015 Calatrava Pilot Travel Time was perceived to be an imitation. Today, Zenith’s Pilot range stays true to its heritage, from the enormous ‘onion’ crown (designed for operating while wearing gloves) to the sheer heft of what were effectively pocket watches – or clocks – strapped to the wrist. From 1939, the Zenith Montre d’Aéronef (‘onboard watch’) Type 20 was the instrumentation du jour in French aircraft cockpits. Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Zenith is its supremely accurate El Primero movement, the robustness of which was demonstrated in 1970 when one was attached to the landing gear of a Boeing 707 during a flight from Paris to New York.īut way before that, a Zenith was fastened onto ‘father of aviation’ Louis Blériot when in 1909 the intrepid Frenchman (previously nicknamed ‘the king of wrecks’) became the first person to fly across the Channel. Not least because the brand is the only Swiss one allowed to use the copyrighted word ‘pilot’ on a dial. Zenith PilotĪny discussion about pilot’s watches has to include Zenith almost by law. Here, we perform an unsolicited fly-by of some of the most noteworthy – and lustworthy – pilot’s watches, which also doubles as a very brief history of the category. “Being a pilot is hugely aspirational, and wearing a watch goes a long way to satisfying that desire. “Everyone wants to be Tom Cruise in Top Gun, right?” says Lloyd Amsdon, co-founder of pre-owned specialist Watchfinder. But outside of wartime, watches often weren’t standard issue: as late as Vietnam, pilots wore their own timepieces, and their discerning choices bolstered certain brands’ reputations.Įven in this digital age, analog pilot’s watches are useful, as a back-up if nothing else. The two global conflicts triggered an arms race as manufacturers were recruited to provide for the respective air forces they also reinforced the association with heroism. Accuracy, reliability and legibility were some aviators’ requirements that in turn drove horological innovation. Watches were vital to pilots not just for accessorizing, but also for things like determining how long they’d been in the air – and therefore how much fuel they had left – and navigation.
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